Captain Cook Highway is a short Queensland highway that starts in Cairns and ends in Mossman, where it joins Mossman-Daintree Road, which continues to Daintree.
Captain Cook Highway is used by many tourists to travel to Port Douglas north of Cairns. Apart from being a vital link between two tourist locations, Captain Cook Highway is a scenic highway that winds alongside the coast of the tropical seaside rainforest heading towards Port Douglas and Daintree National Park.
Approximately 60kms in length, the highway winds along the coastline between the two centres providing access to many beautiful unpopulated beaches along the way. Its magnificent ocean views and spectacular mountain scenery make it one of the best drives in the country.
For tourists, it is the main road the connects popular tourist destinations Port Douglas, Mossman Gorge and the Daintree National Park to Cairns. The highway is popular with motorcycles, with its winding corners making it a fun ride. There are also a number of lookouts along the way that give 270 degree views of the Coral Sea and coastline. Hang gliders often use some of the elevated sections to launch and there are a number of fantastic fishing spots along the way as well.
Despite the fact that the Captain Cook Highway is a short Queensland highway and also one of the most popular routes in Australia used by lots of tourists, the highway is regarded as one of the most dangerous roads in the country.
